


Boxed

by pirategirljack



Series: Weekly Fic Project 2017 [4]
Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, weekly fic project 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-02-16
Packaged: 2018-09-24 22:27:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9789887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirategirljack/pseuds/pirategirljack
Summary: Cassie's overwhelmed; Jake comforts her.





	

Stone came through the door under the stairs, expecting to see Cassie at one of the big communal tables where she usually was when she wasn’t standing next to him, and found the room empty.

Or at least, it looked empty on first glance. A scuffling on the floor drew him to the far table where he found her--crunched up under it.

He was going to ask if something was wrong, but once he’d crouched down to see her face, he saw that it was, so instead, he slid under the table with her, and sat crosslegged, face to face.

“Cozy,” he said, when she didn’t say something first.

She was fidgeting with a piece of tissue, twisting and untwisting it. “You know how when cats are stressed or upset, they like to sit in a box for a while? This is a nice box.”

“What’s stressing or upsetting you?”

She twisted the tissue tighter. “I’m having a hard time--with these new facets of my abilities. Everything is much much more overwhelming. I don’t know how to do things that used to be easy before, there’s just so much more information now, and there’s that accidentally-making-people-think-things thing, and...It’s a lot.”

He reached out with the arm that still had the tattoos he hadn’t asked for wrapped around it, and touched her hands, just his fingertips against hers so he wouldn’t overwhelm her more, but so he could make it clear that he’s here. “Remember when we first met?” he asked.

“So much has happened since then.”

“Yeah, but remember? That first case, how hard it was for you to control your abilities then? And how you figured it out until it felt easy and simple and like it was never hard to begin with?”

She finally relaxed her grip and looked him in the eye. Her fingertips crept just a little further into his hand, not anywhere close to a hand-hold, but the start of an acceptance of what he was offering. “Because you were there. Even when we didn’t even know each other, you knew how to help me calm down and focus.”

He smiled, as gently as he could. She was right, a lot had happened since then, but also a lot had happened since he lost his trust in her back then, too, and he wanted to make it as clear as possible that those rough days were past. “I’m still here. If you need me.”

“I think I might?” Her voice wobbled, like it was hard to admit. Cassie was so self-contained for someone so upbeat; she never would have asked for support. She’d been dying for years and never once used that fact to get what she wanted, and now she didn’t know how to live, and didn’t use that against people either. But Jake Stone knew a little something about not knowing how to live and figuring it out when the Library gave you the chance.

“Then you got me.”

“When we’re out? Like before? If things go bad and I can’t do it, you’ll catch me?”

“Every time.”

Her fingers almost reached his palm, and he felt her thumb brush against his knuckles, not quite a grateful squeeze, but something close to it. It was fragile, whatever they’d just built, but it was there. She smiled, and it was like the sun came up after a long dark night.

“Well what’re we doing down here like scared cats? Let’s see if the Book has something for us to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Weekly Fic Project! I'm trying to write a fic every week on whatever fandom catches my interest! If you have a request for a story in any of the fandoms I write for (this one or others, check my list to see who I like!), leave it in the comments and I'll see if it sparks! If I write yours, I'll link you to it!


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